2024 F1 Imola GP Qualifying: Winners and losers

The 2024 F1 Imola GP qualifying saw Max Verstappen secure an eighth consecutive pole position. The Red Bull driver was under pressure. He had to dig deep as the car was not to his liking throughout the weekend, and he had to fend off the hard-charging Ferraris and McLarens.

He did all of that and more as he secured the pole by less than a tenth from both McLaren drivers. Sharing the front row with him, we'll have Oscar Piastri, who put together an impressive lap in the end. In P3, we have Lando Norris, who also missed out by just a tenth.

In P4 and P5 we have the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, and in P6 we have George Russell. With the F1 Imola GP qualifying done and dusted, who would be happy with how it panned out, and who would be disappointed? Let's take a look.

2024 F1 Imola GP Qualifying

Winner

Max Verstappen and Red Bull

This one is a testament of what Max Verstappen and Red Bull are truly capable of and just a reminder of how good this team is. They were cornered this weekend. Red Bull didn't have the car hooked up in S2.

Max Verstappen had multiple off-track moments on Friday. But when push came to shove, it was once again the man from Holland who nailed the lap and secured pole position for the F1 Imola GP.

The level of exhaustion in Verstappen's voice afterward was proof of how much he'd pushed to get that done. Just what we, as fans, love to see.

Loser

Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso

On the upgrades sheet, Aston Martin notably had as many as nine new parts on the car. That's the most that any team has brought, and the consequence is the car going slower than even the RBs.

Fernando Alonso has a rare stinker where he just couldn't keep the car on track when he pushed. As a result, he starts the F1 Imola GP last on the grid.

There's something fundamentally wrong with Aston Martin's development model, and it needs a serious understanding of what's going on.

Winner

McLaren

McLaren is legitimately a frontrunner now. That's the biggest takeaway from what we've seen this weekend. A slight error from Max, and it would have a McLaren front row at the F1 Imola GP.

Looking ahead to Sunday, the team is in with a chance to win for sure, it's not going to be straightforward, but it would be foolish to assume that the team cannot challenge Red Bull, especially after what we saw in Miami.

Loser

Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez chose the worst possible time to drop a stinker in qualifying. He can try to blame the team, and he can try to divert attention to other things, but the point remains.

He should not have found himself in that situation anyway, where he had to push for a fast lap. With Checo losing out to both the RBs at the F1 Imola GP, it's not the best advertisement for another year in that Red Bull.

Winner

Yuki Tsunoda

Yuki Tsunoda's Q2 lap turned heads in a way that should make different teams take notice. He once again out-qualified Daniel Ricciardo but also jumped Lewis Hamilton in the process.

He's slowly starting to become a complete product, and both Red Bull and even Aston Martin (the future Honda customer) could do well to keep an eye on what he can achieve in the car.

Loser

Ferrari

Pre-Imola GP hype behind the Ferrari upgrade was just ridiculous. The Italian media touted that upgrade to be worth around 4-5 tenths, which is just massive and should have propelled the team to the front.

The F1 Imola GP qualifying showed that if the expectation from the upgrade was a massive jump then that's not there. Ferrari is in the fight at the front but the game of perception vs reality for the team has once again been lost.